


Middle Ground

by otherthingsonhold



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Lightsabers, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Spoilers, could be reylo, could just be a friendship, it's your choice really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-05 20:39:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13395807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otherthingsonhold/pseuds/otherthingsonhold
Summary: The force bonds don't stop after they part on Crait.





	Middle Ground

**Author's Note:**

> I'm no Star Wars expert, nor do I know 100% how the Force Bond works. So I'm sorry for any mistakes.

The bond overcomes them when they aren’t thinking about anything. Both staring into nothing, across the galaxy, at the same exact moment. There are no contemplations about the resistance or the first order. Instead just the empty thought of their next meal, or the pain in their wrists or just themselves.

It happens more often than the odds claim it should.

“Ben.” She calls him nothing else now. And he responds like he hasn’t been going by another name for years. She has paused mid-meal, the bread close to her lips, but she sets it down when he comes into focus. He’s there, right across from her, the fact that no one else can see still amazes her.

“Is it not late where you are?” they can never tell where the other is, “For a meal.” He adds on when she does not respond. 

She’s alone in her chambers. Finn had gone out with Poe and BB-8, Rose was looking for something to tie-up a loose pipeline somewhere. Rey was to help her, after she finished eating. It hadn’t been the busiest of days, but still she managed to go through it forgetting to eat and drink enough. It wasn’t until she felt lightheaded - and at the insistence of Finn - did she retreat.

“You don’t know where I am” she bites back. That much was true. He doesn’t know, but he always likes to assume. She continues to stuff her face, as he watches her. Silent. Curious. They sit like that for a while, the connection never breaking.

 

\---

 

It had been a while since they parted on Crait. At first they didn’t say a word whenever it happened, both were just another person in the room they weren’t going to speak to. But their eyes would meet, and soon glances became nods, and nods became words and words turned into conversation.

A night came where she called out his name right as they were cut off. His eyes grew wide as her image disappeared; it had been so long since he had heard her call him. It reminded him only of the night they killed Snoke, the night he killed Snoke. He couldn’t wait for them to be pulled together again, himself unsure if he would say anything, but he was certain that he needed to hear her say his name again.

“Ben, I need your help.” She said without hesitation the next time he appeared before her. As if finally uttering his name gave her the confidence to ask. Something in her trusted him. She had turned him down and turned her back on all he offered, but still she trusted him.

 

\---

 

“Let me see it.” He suddenly pushes. But she’s not taken aback, their late night calls have occurred too often for her not to be used to his brashness. She tired her best not to look into his eyes, instead she chewed loudly to block his thoughts.  “Haven’t you finished it since we last spoke?” 

“You told me to take my time.” That he did. But without hesitation she pulls out the weapon that now sits at her waist. With a light press, the blade shines bright and blue.

 

\---

 

When she held the two pieces of Master Skywalker’s torn lightsaber in her hand, she did not know what to make of it. It had been through battles unlike ones she’d ever seen, and ones she fought herself. At first she thought of sealing it back together. Finding a material to replace the broken hilt, but keep the rest of it the same.

But she had never tampered with a lightsaber. And though the loose parts look harmless enough, she did not want to risk the crystal, herself or more importantly, her friends.

She never showed him the remains of Mater Skywalker’s saber, she did not want him to take that away from her – though she wasn’t sure if that was possible through a mere force bond. So she asked him to help her build one from scratch. Though she knew he was curious as to where she would get a kyber crystal, he never asked. And she suspected he knew, he must have.

“The power grid may backfire.” Was his first piece of advice once he agreed to help her. To her surprise it didn’t take him much convincing or multiple demands from her part. “You must be careful.”

He would tell her what he knew, what knowledge had been imparted to him. When she was lucky, he’d be so deep into the lore of the saber, he’d tell her of his own experiences. His sword, how he built it, what he had modified. It quickly became her favourite thing about these conversations. 

Their distance made a long process take even longer. Though she had the Jedi Texts to guide her, she never changed too much until he was there with her, to leader her and teach her. 

 

\---

 

He doesn’t show a sign of approval, nor did he sneer at the sword. He only stares at her work. “For the next time we meet face to face.”

She instantly turns it off and grips it in her hands. She could reach out and touch him, know that he’s really there, tell him that they were truly face to face. Without duels or scars, only conversation. This could be them, always. But she doesn’t, no matter how much she wants to.

“You know we don’t have to. You can come to me,” she is always so adamant and his eyes don’t leave hers. “It’s never too late.”

“We must.” He nods, “And we will.”

She fiddles with the saber once more, and clicks something into place. The blade turns on once again, but the light is somewhat dimmer.

“Why did you do that?” He questions her. This time he isn’t aggressive, his brows crease in curiosity. It’s a low power setting, one usually used for training. A setting he knew from experience, that Rey definitely did not need.

“To make the—” She stops herself from speaking. It’s something she had been toying with, a concept she found in the Scared Jedi Text. Something she may want to use to practice with the young force-sensitive children they had come across throughout the galaxy.

“You didn’t need my help.”

“I did.” She insists before he even finishes his sentence. “I do.” She almost gave into her urge to reach out, they hadn’t done so through the bond since that night when their hands met. “I wanted your help. Someone to guide me, you’re the only person I know that has built one, how was I supposed to do it alone?” 

She can see something rushing through him, an emotion she can’t really place.

“Then I hope you trust that I haven’t tricked you into tampering with yours.” 

“I know you haven’t”

This was the first time in their conversation where he looks down. He nods ever so slightly, not wanting to meet her eyes

“No,” he whispers as he feels the bond breaking “I haven’t.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
